Driving to Tacoma-Seattle in Winter (from AZ)

locomotiveman

I am in consideration for a job in Tacoma and currently live in Flagstaff Arizona. I would have to move to Tacoma in mid December with my car and do not have enough stuff to justify using a Uhaul type vehicle to put my worldly possessions in and simply haul the car behind. Yahoo maps says that the shortest route between the two travels through Utah, Idaho, NW Oregon, and then across to Seattle on I-82 and I-90. I have often seen those horror stories on CNN of people being snowed in in the Cascades during winter and like most people would rather avoid that. The other obvious option is to hop on I-40 drive to California and head up I-5 through Portland.

What I need to know is, how early in the winter do you get storms in the Cascades that could close the interstate (and east of there as well) and if these storms are likely to also effect I-5 in Oregon and northern California.

Thank you to everyone who reads and posts.

AngelHedgie

locomotiveman wrote: »

I am in consideration for a job in Tacoma and currently live in Flagstaff Arizona. I would have to move to Tacoma in mid December with my car and do not have enough stuff to justify using a Uhaul type vehicle to put my worldly possessions in and simply haul the car behind. Yahoo maps says that the shortest route between the two travels through Utah, Idaho, NW Oregon, and then across to Seattle on I-82 and I-90. I have often seen those horror stories on CNN of people being snowed in in the Cascades during winter and like most people would rather avoid that. The other obvious option is to hop on I-40 drive to California and head up I-5 through Portland.

What I need to know is, how early in the winter do you get storms in the Cascades that could close the interstate (and east of there as well) and if these storms are likely to also effect I-5 in Oregon and northern California.

Thank you to everyone who reads and posts.

Winter? My parents once drove that route in the summer, and there was a SEVERE snowstorm.

I'm being dead serious - the weather up here is fickle. That said, your best bet is to just keep aware of the conditions. If you don't feel confident, then don't push it!

KPC

I recently took a road trip from Southern California up to Seattle. The 5 between northern CA and southern OR can still be prone to severe weather conditions, but I think that Pacific weather is a bit fickle. So between days of mountain passes and just hours of it, I'd choose the CA to WA route.

My advice? Take some time, drive to the Southern California coast, then proceed up the 101 North through San Francisco, then hook up with the 5 after that (Google Maps will tell you how). It is way longer than a straight shot up through central California, but as my drive back attests, there is absolutely nothing in central California. You're better off seeing some good sights while you're at it.

Take some time, plan your trip, and definitely try booking hotels through priceline.com; or if you're adventurous, couchsurfing.com (I wish I had done this).

Thanatos

KPC wrote: »

I recently took a road trip from Southern California up to Seattle. The 5 between northern CA and southern OR can still be prone to severe weather conditions, but I think that Pacific weather is a bit fickle. So between days of mountain passes and just hours of it, I'd choose the CA to WA route.

My advice? Take some time, drive to the Southern California coast, then proceed up the 101 North through San Francisco, then hook up with the 5 after that (Google Maps will tell you how). It is way longer than a straight shot up through central California, but as my drive back attests, there is absolutely nothing in central California. You're better off seeing some good sights while you're at it.

Take some time, plan your trip, and definitely try booking hotels through priceline.com; or if you're adventurous, couchsurfing.com (I wish I had done this).

I was going to suggest you consider this. Are you making the trip on your own, locomotiveman, or will you have someone with you?

I've made the last portion of that drive several times, and there's really only one area where it's prone to road-closing inclement weather (though, last year there were a few areas that got hit, so it's not a for-sure thing). If you decide to do this, make sure you have snow chains for your car, and you know how to put them on (though, usually there are people walking around who'll put them on for you for, like, $20).

I'm really not familiar with the other route, but I'll tell you that going through California, you're pretty clear up until the Oregon border, unless you're exceptionally unlucky (last year, the closures were south of Eureka, which is around 150 miles from the border).

tralev

Snoqualmie Pass, which you would take along the last stretch of I-90, can get pretty ugly in December.

Plus as others have said, through CA and I5 is just a better drive, the whole center of Washington State is a huge desert, boring as hell to drive through.

Thanatos

tralev wrote: »

Snoqualmie Pass, which you would take along the last stretch of I-90, can get pretty ugly in December.

Plus as others have said, through CA and I5 is just a better drive, the whole center of Washington State is a huge desert, boring as hell to drive through.

I-5 is a shit drive; it just goes through the desert. Though, if you ever wanted to know how fast your car can go, that's the place to find out; 80 mph speed limits, most people are going over 100 between LA and Fresno, or so.

101, on the other hand, is a great drive.

locomotiveman

Due to scheduling conflicts, graduation is about 3-4 days before I would have to be there, 101 is not really an option. I'm originally from Upstate New York so driving in snow is something I have some experience with (Flag itself is also at 7000 feet) but I know things can get really hairy up there. Odds are that someone will come along between friends with family at Ft Lewis, friends in Vancouver OR and friends with friends in Seattle proper there's something of a line of volenteers forming to make the trip.

Seattle Thread

Vancouver is in Washington, though it's right on the border.

I also highly recommend coming up from the south. Eastern Washington is what is known as "hell on Earth," and you'd have to deal with going through Seattle to get to Tacoma instead of the other way around.

The biggest issue that I-5 (up here it's "I-5," never "the 5") would give you in Washington state would not be weather conditions, but dumbass driver conditions. Accidents are pretty frequent, and delays can take hours. But for the most part, it's a straight and easy shot from the Oregon border to the Puget Sound area.

Anything south of Portland, well, I can't tell you how conditions fare. But it's still your best bet.

Thanatos

Makershot wrote: »

Vancouver is in Washington, though it's right on the border.

I also highly recommend coming up from the south. Eastern Washington is what is known as "hell on Earth," and you'd have to deal with going through Seattle to get to Tacoma instead of the other way around.

The biggest issue that I-5 (up here it's "I-5," never "the 5") would give you in Washington state would not be weather conditions, but dumbass driver conditions. Accidents are pretty frequent, and delays can take hours. But for the most part, it's a straight and easy shot from the Oregon border to the Puget Sound area.

Anything south of Portland, well, I can't tell you how conditions fare. But it's still your best bet.

This is so true. I used to think California drivers were bad about rubbernecking, but Washington drivers are the worst I've ever seen. An accident on an exit on the far side of the other side of the freeway caused an hour and a half delay on a relatively poorly-traveled portion of I-5 on my way back from Portland one time. Fucking ridiculous.

Arrath

I too would suggest coming up I-5 rather than trying to cross Snoqualmie in the winter. South of Portland I-5 is fair for the entierty of Oregon, California I can't speak for. North of Portland I-5 is easy.

And as others have said, Eastern Washington is boring as hell, going up the western side will be a lot more interesting, and introduce you to the weather you'll experience in Tacoma.

Fakeedit: Snoqualmie is north of Tacoma, maybe even Seattle, isn't it? Haven't done that in a while, anyway if it is then you'd be wasting time 1)driving through the shitstorm that is seattle and 2) just doubling back south.

Seattle Thread

Thanatos wrote: »

Makershot wrote: »

Vancouver is in Washington, though it's right on the border.

I also highly recommend coming up from the south. Eastern Washington is what is known as "hell on Earth," and you'd have to deal with going through Seattle to get to Tacoma instead of the other way around.

The biggest issue that I-5 (up here it's "I-5," never "the 5") would give you in Washington state would not be weather conditions, but dumbass driver conditions. Accidents are pretty frequent, and delays can take hours. But for the most part, it's a straight and easy shot from the Oregon border to the Puget Sound area.

Anything south of Portland, well, I can't tell you how conditions fare. But it's still your best bet.

This is so true. I used to think California drivers were bad about rubbernecking, but Washington drivers are the worst I've ever seen. An accident on an exit on the far side of the other side of the freeway caused an hour and a half delay on a relatively poorly-traveled portion of I-5 on my way back from Portland one time. Fucking ridiculous.

My delay record is five hours so far.

Goddamn, I'm going down there this weekend. I hope we get lucky. It's always northbound, too, rarely southbound... must be the influx of Californian drivers experiencing rain driving for the first time.

clsCorwin

Having made the drive from Oceanside to Tacoma in April, in ain't so bad. Hit some light snow once I hit Mt Shasta, but nothing crazy or dangerous. The scenery does get boring, especially once you pass the Grapevine, but things turn around nicely when you get near Mt Shasta.

Aurora Borealis

If you have good timing with your drive, try to avoid the major cities during rush hours. 6:00pm traffic between Olympia and Seattle is gross, and Portland can get pretty bad too.

Southern Oregon is beautiful to drive through- pretty hills and farmland. Once you pass Eugene, it gets less pretty. There's an hourlong stretch between Albany and Salem that my mom dubbed 'the snoreons', because there is absolutely nothing to look at but sheep. Other than that, Oregon up I-5 is a pretty nice trip.

Doc

I hate to admit it as a local, but drivers in the Seattle area are fucking retarded.
DRIVE WHY ARE YOU GETTING ON THE FREEWAY AT 30 YOU ARE GOING TO GET US KILLED

jasonlester

Doc wrote: »

I hate to admit it as a local, but drivers in the Seattle area are fucking retarded.
DRIVE WHY ARE YOU GETTING ON THE FREEWAY AT 30 YOU ARE GOING TO GET US KILLED

Wait, what? I don't understand this. 30 miles per hour?. Here we got on freeways at 100 km/h.

edit: unless you are saying they "are teh slowzors" Sorry. I'm tired.

clsCorwin

He is sating that they are too slow. Freeway speeds are usually 65 mph minimum, so to merge onto the freeway going less than half of that... yea...

Doc

Then there is the 520 commute. One dude slams on his breaks for no reason other than getting to the top of a bridge and it fucks up traffic for the rest of the day. It happens daily.

Thanatos

Makershot wrote: »

Thanatos wrote: »

Makershot wrote: »

Vancouver is in Washington, though it's right on the border.

I also highly recommend coming up from the south. Eastern Washington is what is known as "hell on Earth," and you'd have to deal with going through Seattle to get to Tacoma instead of the other way around.

The biggest issue that I-5 (up here it's "I-5," never "the 5") would give you in Washington state would not be weather conditions, but dumbass driver conditions. Accidents are pretty frequent, and delays can take hours. But for the most part, it's a straight and easy shot from the Oregon border to the Puget Sound area.

Anything south of Portland, well, I can't tell you how conditions fare. But it's still your best bet.

This is so true. I used to think California drivers were bad about rubbernecking, but Washington drivers are the worst I've ever seen. An accident on an exit on the far side of the other side of the freeway caused an hour and a half delay on a relatively poorly-traveled portion of I-5 on my way back from Portland one time. Fucking ridiculous.

My delay record is five hours so far.

Goddamn, I'm going down there this weekend. I hope we get lucky. It's always northbound, too, rarely southbound... must be the influx of Californian drivers experiencing rain driving for the first time.

I have rarely seen Californian drivers who drive as poorly in the rain as Seattlites.

Doc wrote: »

I hate to admit it as a local, but drivers in the Seattle area are fucking retarded.
DRIVE WHY ARE YOU GETTING ON THE FREEWAY AT 30 YOU ARE GOING TO GET US KILLED

I was getting on 520 yesterday, and someone was doing this. What the fuck, man?

clsCorwin

Have you driven on the 99 in Stanislaus County? I swear, these are the worst drivers ever.